Networking

You’ve heard the saying “It’s not what you know, but it’s who you know.” This is absolutely true in job hunting. Most job openings aren’t ever advertised, but filled in with friends or extended friends of friends who were there at the right place at the right time to get the job.

Of course, these jobs may not be the ones you’re interested in working at, but the same principle applies to more professional firms.

• It takes a lot of effort to create a job description for people to apply for
• Smaller firms may not have large human resource departments
• Outsourced human resources or agencies charge fees to fill jobs, so until the job really needs to be filled, the firm may not get around to hiring somebody.

Spend time getting to know people who might have connections to jobs you are interested in. Join clubs and socialize in professional organizations.

In general, be kind to everyone, get to know everybody as well as you can, enjoy being with people and collect contact information as you go.